


The biggest fan

by Aliasprick



Series: Fifteen and counting [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23912356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliasprick/pseuds/Aliasprick
Summary: The story of an obsessed fan with his equally obsessed idol.Ash x Gou
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: Fifteen and counting [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733800
Comments: 1
Kudos: 91
Collections: Early Start





	1. The biggest fan

"Huhu", Gou chuckled to himself, tapping his forehead twice and his eyes twinkled as he sat across his only treasure that he thought worth owning in his entire universe. 

Besides Mew. No, scratch that. Mew is a pokemon he dreamt to catch and he didn't want to treat it like a property. He wanted Mew to be a part of his pokemon family and even if he had to grow old alone, at least, he would retire as an old man with thousands of pokemons. 

Fifteen years old, with a long way to go and he already thought about retirement. 

Alone at that. 

Huh. 

"Anyways!" he exclaimed to himself in his bedroom with himself and only by himself. Cinderace was hanging out with Intelion whom he had promised to babysit while Ash was away for two days to attend a party hosted by his past rival, Gary Oak. 

Of course he wasn't invited and of course he had this small bit of jealousy in him but for the sake of Ash, his very best friend, he was willing to take Intelion in for two days and brought it back to his home. 

With Cinderace being a good buddy with Intelion, the two pokemon just chilled in front of the TV in the living room watching the pokemon soccer league. 

Meanwhile, here he was, in his swivel chair, looking at the content that he owned - his treasure. 

After cleaning the dust off from each of the items in the shelves, he closed the door to the hidden side of the wardrobe, leaving only his clothes in plain sight. Nobody would have thought that behind the wooden wall was the place where he stored all of his collection. 

"Update from the bid! Your transaction is successful and the item will be delivered via Mail to 707", his rotom smartphone announced the update on his latest winning. 

"Sweet!" he said and looked at his latest bid. 

A trainer card with Ash's signature and his goofy face. 

He rejoiced at the thought of his new item arriving on the next day. Feeling a little hungry, he decided to see what's in the kitchen and fed his pokémon and himself. 

\---------

Two days after that, they returned to Sakuragi's Institute. Ash smiled when he saw Intelion and gave it a tight hug. Standing a few meters away was Gou who was proud of himself for taking care of Ash's pokemon. 

"Were you having fun at Gou's place?" Ash asked. 

"Int", Intellion nodded in a cool way and rejoined Cinderace in its game of tag. 

"I'm glad that you are willing to take care of him", said Ash to Gou. 

"It's no big deal. We watched a lot of TV shows and they're all entertaining", said Gou, trying to act mature with his fingers propping his chin. 

"How was the party?" asked Gou, slightly interested with Ash's happiness level for attending such events . 

"Honestly, could've been better if you were there but I had fun", said Ash. 

"I know right? I'm such a fun person that you missed my presence! I'm glad that you enjoyed it though", Gou bragged but inside his mind, he was fawning at the compliment. 

Ash laughed dryly.

"What's up with that?" Gou thought but when this Mr. Ketchum decided that he wanted to have a walk around town, Gou's thought drifted away as soon as it came and he gladly accepted the invitation. 

Since it was an adventure close to the institute, they walked to the bus stop taking their sweet time and took the next bus to the town center. When they reached it, they saw a lot of people selling flowers on the roadside. 

"Wow, they look pretty neat", Gou said, coming up close to a seller to check out the flowers. Ash was at another stall taking a look at other varieties and when he returned, he offered Gou a fresh Jasmine. 

"This one has a nice scent. That botanist guy said that this species comes from the Kalos region. You should take it", Ash passed the flower to him, who in his mind was delighted to receive another item to be added into his collection. 

"I shall preserve this in resin!" He made a mental note to do it as soon as they returned back to the institute. Outside, appearance wise, he thanked Ash for giving him such a lovely flower. 

"I wonder if I should get some for Butterfree", Gou thought out loud but when he came to a conclusion that he would have to buy for every other insect pokemon he had, he decided that he should just take this one home for himself. 

"Hmm… Do you want to go to the jetty? I heard there's a good corn dog stall there", Ash suggested, pointing towards the sea direction. Gou loved the breeze blowing mildly at them and he loved to see the ocean while imagining the numbers of wild pokemon in there. 

Also, luck had it that he came prepared with a fishing rod. 

"Let's go! We might get some really cool pokemon there!" Gou was hyped, his eyes shone. 

"You brought tonnes of pokeballs with you, huh?" Ash sighed but oh well, at least they were going to where the corn dog is. 

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" the other teen shouted and they both ended up racing each other to the sea.

"I'll get there first before you, Ash!" 

"We'll see about that". 

\------

Plop! In went the hook into the water. Ash won the race with a slight advantage but because he won, he called dip on paying for the corn dog. 

Well, he wasn't complaining since Ash wanted to pay the bill voluntarily. Free meal is always good. 

Gou watched his reeling wheel for any sign of the bait being eaten. Pikachu and Cinderace, yes they were with them, were playing with stone balancing while Gou, he twirled the flower he received while enjoying the calm breeze. 

Ash had gone ahead to get them some corn dogs and he would take a good thirty minutes to get through just the order queue and another good thirty minutes to receive his order since the stall is the most popular one in town. 

Again since this was a no labour and no cash spent losing gift, he just took it because why not?

One hour. Gou had roughly an hour to think about the flower. 

"Hmm…. This thing sure is pretty. I wonder if he got it or bought it", yeah, he forgot to ask but seeing as he could not ask without making it awkward, he decided to name this flower, the mystery of Ash. 

The mystery of ash was wiped out when he saw a little something advertised at the window from the corner of his eyes. 

"Cinderace, help me watch the fishing rod", he said, getting up to come closer to the said leaflet plastered on the window. 

"Wow…" he whistled when he saw the design of the arm band on the paper. It was the same one that Ash had worn during many of his middle class rank battles . 

The original one was of course unwearable and Ash had replaced it with a new one. He didn't deny that he had the urge to go through the trash can at the time Ash threw them away but that would be… creepy.

Luckily, they, the official tournament company, decided to make the print available and he can get the same one easily without it becoming weird. 

He entered the shop and made his purchase. He kept it out of sight in his bag and walked out with a cone of ice cream in his hand. This is Gou's art of misdirection and it appeared to be working because as soon as Ash arrived at their waiting spot at the same time that he got out from the shop, the ice cream caught his attention. 

"Hey, Gou. What's that you got in your hand?" 

"An ice cream. Do you want to try some?" 

"Sure!"

Gou held the cone out as offering and Ash took a small bite. 

"It's yummy", he looked at Gou happily. 

"It is, isn't it?" Inside he was crying because of how he hadn't even tried it yet but already, he was telling Ash on how good it was. 

Though he didn't mind sharing. 

Gou took the next bite and felt blessed at the amazing flavour melting onto his tongue. "Ahh, how refreshing!" he said, basking in the ice cream meltdown. 

"Hey, anyway, sorry for the long wait. I got us some corn dog", Ash showed him the paper bag in his hand. 

"Oh yeah, let's have them", Gou said excitedly, bouncing on his heel as he walked to where the rod was. Cinderace, Pikachu, Gou and Ash sat at the edge of the sea barrier, enjoying the sight while eating to their heart content . 

The sparkling sea had a beautiful blue colour. Skydom was enriched with fluffy looking clouds and they played a little game of guessing what the cloud resembles. 

"I think that one looks like a Riolu!" said Ash. 

"What Riolu? It's closest in resemblance to Farfetched!" 

"Oh yeah, prove it!" 

"That part", Gou said, pointing to the part of the cloud shaping like something long, "is actually the leek". 

"Huh, that could be anything. Like Riolu's hind leg!" 

After a bit of playful argument between them, Ash sighed contentedly and just enjoyed the atmosphere. 

"Hey, you know what else the sea and the sky reminded me of?" asked Ash to Gou. 

"Yeah?" asked Gou, a little curious as to where this was going. 

"Your eyes", said Ash. 

"Of course! Blue eyes and the sky are only fitting! Because my dream is as limitless as the sky and the world to explore is as vast as the sea!" He had to agree how accurate Ash was being. 

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Ash sighed in defeat. 

"It is, isn't it?"

"It's alright. We still got time". 

"Huh? What do you mean, Ash?" 

"Just thinking to myself how blue is also the colour of seriousness and intelligence". 

"Huh?" 

Ash left Gou to wonder about what he meant afterwards. 

And they caught a shiny magikarp. 

\--------

The party had ended with a confession. Specifically Ash's confession about his feelings towards a certain someone. 

How did they end up with that? By agreeing to take part in a spin the bottle game.

When it landed on Ash, all of his previous female companions had discussed what to ask him and the cold, cold truth was they had all always wondered if he ever liked someone. 

Which led to Ash answering yes. 

Which led to gasps and surprised faces and more probing. 

Which led to him revealing who it was. 

And that certain someone, up until today, had chalked all of his advances as just mere conversation. 

He got on his rotom smartphone, found himself locked up in the basement, making a video call that night to those same people who were at the party. 

"Did you try our approach? Like bringing him on a date and flirting senseless with him", asked May excitedly. It was her idea, this one and since this method had always worked for most people, she was convinced that Ash and Gou would be together by the end of it. 

"I thought I was oblivious as you guys put it", Ash made finger quote to stress the oblivious part. 

"Wait a moment. Somebody is more oblivious than you?" Misty gasped. 

"I guess you could say that since everything becomes a neutral topic to talk about with him", he sighed a very, very long sigh. 

"I have an idea! What about you try making him jealous? It might shake him up and then he will realize it", Lily suggested. 

"Huh… And how can I do that?" 

"Hm… Let's see what we can do to invoke this specific emotion", Lily gave a lot of thought about every possible scenario but she ended up with just one specific one in mind. 

She smiled at him with her sweetest smile and said, "Don't you worry, Ash. I'll get Gladion to help you".


	2. A fan's contribution

The hustle bustle of the airport was exciting as always eventhough he was there not for the purpose of travelling. Ash and Pikachu waited at the arrival exit, propping his elbows on the rail to rest his chin. 

The announcement let them know that the flight number they were waiting for had finally landed. Drumming his fingers, he watched as passengers came out from the immigration clearance. 

"There he is!" he straightened himself when he saw Gladion making his way out with just his bag pack. 

"Oi, Gladion! Over here!" Ash shouted and waved feverishly at Gladion. The other turned and gave him a smirk. 

"It's been a while, Ash".

"What do you mean? We talked over the phone last night". 

"Twenty minutes flirting with my sister and ten minutes talking to me", Gladion broke it down for him. 

"I am not flirting with her. We're just catching up", he said while scratching his jaw. 

"Alright, this is my first time here in Kanto region. Why don't you show me around?" 

"Sure. Let's go to my favourite restaurant. Pikachu, you ready?" 

"Pika!" 

\-----------

Bob's Kitchen, a place he often visited with Gou. Sometimes they were there for light snacks. Sometimes for lunch and sometimes for dinner. What matters was that it served curry like no other with a promise that you would go out from it satisfied. 

"And the portion is huge!" Ash said when the bowls were served to them. 

"Is that L size?" Gladion looked at the size disapprovingly. 

"The curry is good though. Are you sure S is going to be enough?" 

"Unlike you, I choose to eat in a controlled portion". 

".... Really? Your household serves a banquet and you said that?" 

"Tch. Those are well planned diets with calculated nutrition", Gladion defended himself. 

"Right, right", Ash nodded and chomped away at his curry. 

"Lily told me that you are in love with someone. Is that true?" 

Ash swallowed too fast that he choked when Gladion teasingly used the word 'love'. Pikachu used iron tail onto his back and the curry passed through with a loud pop. 

Gladion smirked at him with a 'That' s why we eat with manners, asshole' look.

" L-Love is a strong word!" Ash denied quickly and bashfully. 

"I see… Maybe a person of romantic interest or a crush is a better fitting word?" 

This time, Ash turned his head to the side and nodded. 

"ASH KETCHUM, THE ALOLAN CHAMPION, HAS FINALLY FALLEN IN LOVE would make a great headline in Alola's newspaper. I want to imagine Professor Kukui choking on his bread like you did", Gladion imagined the front cover of the scoop. 

"No!! SHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Ash slapped his palm on Gladion's mouth. The other peeled his hand. 

"Alright, who's the lucky girl. Spit it out", Gladion urged. 

"Not a girl but a boy", Ash said burying his face in his palm. 

"Ooo… Now this is interesting. Do I know him?" 

"You guys haven't met but you're about to". 

"So, what's the plan? I was told to help you out". 

"Lily?" 

"Who else would convey that kind of message to me besides her?" 

"I want to make him yknow realized that I like him that way". 

"Alright, for you my friend and rival, I'll help you out. Also, because I'm a fan of Ash Ketchum and his battler pokemon, Pikachu". 

"Thanks Gladion. You're truly a great friend". 

\-----------

Oh my… "YES!!" Gou pumped up his hands and let the gravity pulled him down with a thunk onto his mattress. 

He won yet again a picture of Ash Ketchum in a nurse dress. It was a battle between him and Kiawe999 to see who would end up with the highest bid before the closure. Of course, he got it hands down, placing over 100P for the final price, more than anyone willing to pay. 

Except for him, a collector of every single darn thing that has Ash inside it. 

A chat message popped open, showing a hand flipping a middle finger. 

He replied, his fingers furiously typing. "Suck it. I won. Don't be salty". 

He jumped when the door was opened with a loud thump. Gou rolled onto his side and saw another boy following Ash behind him. 

"Hey Gou, I want you to meet my… My partner!" Ash, another poor soul who was on a mission to make the other feel something, announced loudly and nervously. 

"Partner…. PARTNER?!!" Gou sat up and gawked. 

"And obviously that would be me, Gladion. Nice to meet you", his partner walked into the middle of the room. 

"I… I didn't know you have a partner other than me", Gou said slightly saddened. 

Ash stilled. Now he felt bad and he thought of reversing the situation but Gladion thrust his arm out to stop Ash from taking back his word and ruining the plan just because Gou' s cute little antic had potentially softened his resolve. Plus, he was already committed to the plan and he hated retracting it after already executing it. Also, it wasn't cheap to fly to Kanto and his bum burnt for the amount of time he had to stay seated in a boring cabin. 

He better returned to Alola with victory on this one. 

"I will be staying here until after the Super Class Tournament. Now which one is Ash's bed because I will be sharing with him throughout my entire stay, " he asked. 

"IIYADAA!!!!" Gou mentally panicked. Ash would be sharing a bed with someone and for some reason, he didn't like the idea of his idol lying down next to someone else! Except for hims.. Nope.. Pikachu. Except for Pikachu! Only PIKACHU is allowed with sharing the same bed as Ash. 

"I'll sleep on the floor!" he quickly barged into the conversation, "you can have my bed. It's the top bunk!" 

"Won't the floor be cold and uncomfortable to sleep on?" asked Gladion, raising one eyebrow with his arm crossed. 

"Ahahaha! I'm used to the cold! I used to sleep on the floor all the time!" 

"Really? I guess… Since your bed looks better than Ash's excuse of a slum", Gladion agreed. 

Although… He looked at Ash with the corner of his eyes and winked. Ash looked at him with confusion written all over his face. Gladion winked again to sign him that he should take advantage of the situation but Ash merely added another layer of confusion on his already confused face which irked Gladion to the point he wanted to say it in his face. 

Instead, like a good friend he was, he hinted to the guy in question. 

"Instead of sleeping on the floor", he said draggily, "why don't you discuss with Ash about your sleeping arrangement?" 

"... But he said he would be sleeping on the floor…" Ash said and Gladion wiped his face slowly, in a manner that screamed  _ oh, my goodness get a clue already _ ! 

"Suit yourself", Gladion admitted and tossed his bag carelessly to the top bunk. 

\-------

Gou was the last one to come inside the room that night. He took an extra futon, pillow and blanket and laid it on the floor, profusely thanking Koharu in his head for taking her time to deliver his sleeping essentials . 

After lying down, he stared at the new occupant of his bed. He was actually kind of intrigued about this new character… who called himself Ash's partner and he disagreed because the only partner Ash should ever have is Pikachu. He already could feel this flame of rivalry in him after hearing that Ash had accepted another human as his partner.

"I can feel your eyes on me", Gladion said like the cold tundra he was. 

"Don't get too full of yourself. I wasn't looking", Gou denied just as cold. 

Until he heard the sound of stop button beeping. His eyes widened when Gladion smirked at him gleefully . 

"I have evidence that points to your  _ if looks could kill _ eyes. You seem like a guy who only believes in facts and this is fact", Gladion waved his phone. 

"Tch. Whatever. It's only me looking at you", said Gou. 

"Do you want me to show Ash this clip?" 

"Don't you dare…" 

"Oh I will". 

Gou raised a white flag and said, "why are you hating on me?" 

"Of course it's because I have met you before but not in person and you outdid me several times", Gladion pointed out. 

"When and where? Be a little more descriptive".

"Unfortunately for you, while you were away in the shower, you left your phone in the room. Maybe you should have switched off your notification, Mr. AshISLife2019". 

Hearing that, Gou's eyes went teary and he climbed to the top bunk bed to sit across Gladion so they could talk quietly. 

"Was he here?" Gou asked meekly. 

"Lucky for you I was the only one", Gladion reassured him. 

"H-Have we participated in the same bid session before?" Gou asked. 

"Quite a few times. Plus, with your notorious technique of pressing the bid to a lower value and placing the highest a few seconds before the bid ended, you have quite a reputation in the Ash Fanbase community". 

They traded their ID. "ZPowerPikaAsh", Gladion offered him a handshake. 

"AshISLife2019", Gou returned it. 

"So, you're also a big fan of Ash Ketchum", Gladion started. 

"He is amazing and weird and full of mysteries but mostly amazing", Gou admitted with googly excited eyes. 

"And you're okay if he had a partner like me?" asked Gladion. 

"Not okay at all". 

"That was quick", Gladion smirked, "but unfortunately I'm his partner". 

"You can be his partner but if you even touch him in a way that is unforgivable, I will headbutt you", Gou said with a smile that was opposite to what he was saying. 

"I see. So you're going to come in between us?" asked Gladion. 

"More than you think. I will stop you", Gou promised him a painful backlash if he even laid a hand on Ash. With a smile so warm. Totally the opposite of his words. 

"Huh, now I can see why you bought so many of his merchandise. Also, I'd like to see you try". 

"I see. Then our friendship will only remain online and as of in person, we are rivals". 

"Hm… But there is one more item in his possession that you have yet to own and I almost did". 

"And what's that?" 

"His", Gladion placed his hand over his chest, "heart". And we all know it was just him carrying out the plan. 

"I accept", Gou said. 

"Huh?" 

"I accept your challenge". 

"A challenge of what?" 

"I'll take his heart before you do cause that would be the highest regard I can have as a fan". 

"Huh… Interesting. Well, expect that it won't be easy because I will not let you have my partner as easily as that". 

Gladion gave a pat on his back. Managing to push Gou into the right direction was step number one. 


	3. Matchmaker Gladion

Ash was dripping with sweats as they were headed to the airport. His anxiety level had just shot up above the safe zone since they were out of bed and it wasn't due to the fact that they were heading to Galar Region for the tournament's briefing. 

An official stadium battle for Super rank with a promise of a huge crowd who were gathered there for the game was supposed to wreck his nerve. However his anxiety stemmed entirely from the sensation of someone drilling a hole in his head, making him feel a knot in his stomach more than the official battle that was about to happen in two days . 

Silently, he wondered if he snores too loudly that he deserved the angry glare. Meanwhile Gladion was always smirking at him like there was something going on and he knew the reason behind it. It must have been entertaining for Gladion and thus, he didn't even make any effort to ease out the situation. 

He wasn't a mind reader and he could barely understand other pokemon besides Pikachu, let alone human but he decided that taking a proactive step would help him dissect the problem a small mile at a time. Starting with a question sounded like about right...

"W-What's up, Gou?" he asked nervously. 

"Nothing. Nothing at all", Gou muttered grumpily, holding back his complaint… That is if he has one. He was dissatisfied with something but he refused to let him know.

"But you seemed angry? Did I… Uh Offended you somehow?"

Gou shook his head and just crossed his arms while looking away. 

"Right. Now I have to think about what went wrong", Ash thought quietly and began a series of flashbacks to find his mistake. 

He also counted the number of times he was kicked by Cinderace until they reached the airport. He wasn't quite sure what might have fuelled the pokemon's anger but he received the end of the stick anyway. 

And Pikachu wasn't too happy with the sudden kicks aimed at its trainer. 

Their pokemons had almost fought about it if it weren't for him taking the hit and reassured Pikachu that it was okay. 

During the flight, Ash had the middle seat but Gou immediately offered him the window seat and sat in the middle. Now he wasn't sure why Gou was suddenly being generous to him after being angry at him - even let him have his pudding as an extra side too. The disoriented mood did confuse the heck out of Ash because now he wasn't sure how to deal with Gou's moodswing. He had seen enough to understand Gou is a cauldron of emotions but this quick jump between one to another was not one of the things he had seen Gou does. 

To think that a moment ago he was being kicked by Cinderace and being glared to. Gladion on the other hand, couldn't drop his smirk even when they were on the flight. When Gou fell asleep in the middle of the journey, his other companion typed on his phone and showed him the screen, "let's talk later when we have the chance". 

Ash acknowledged it with a nod and for the rest of the journey, he either was searching for some movies to watch or spent the rest of the trip looking at Gou's sleeping face, in which he noted that his eyebrow knitted together and without refraining himself, he eased it with a gentle touch of his finger. 

"How sweet", he heard Gladion chuckled lightly, taking a snap of the moment. 

"W-Wait Gladion! You can't just-just take a picture without permission!" 

Gladion sighed. "You're right. That was rude of me. Rotom phone, please send the image to Ash's phone". 

"W-Wait!!!!" 

"What? It's for your own eyes. I've deleted the one in mine", said Gladion, showing him the empty image archive

Ash looked at the image that arrived in his inbox. Just looking at himself with longing of the possibility he could've had, made his heart twinged a little bit more. There was Gou sleeping and there was him pining. It was almost bittersweet. He saved it in the phone memory, letting it rest in somewhere reachable. 

Would it hurt him to keep it? Plenty. 

But would he discard it? 

No because it would be the only piece he had of their moment together. Not as friends but as something that could've been more. 

"This is Captain Wick. We are scheduled to arrive in an hour. Guests are advised to take a seat and fasten your seatbelt. Ensure that children and pokemons are monitored during the landing. Please raise the window cover. Our cabin crew will collect any waste before we are ready to land". 

Gou yawned and stretched his hands in the air. "Are we there?" he asked sleepily. 

"Looks like we're about to land", said Ash, filling him in with what he had missed. 

"Really? Oh… I can see the city lights!" Gou exclaimed when he saw the arrays of lights across the dark black landscape. 

The two of them excitedly looked at the window while Gladion let out a small smile on his face. 

\----------

They arrived at the accommodations reserved for the player and their helpers. Ash was allowed to bring at most four people with him to help him out or manage his schedule. He didn't need a manager and instead, decided to use the slot for inviting his friends to come along with him.

Good news was the players and helpers would be staying in separate rooms. Meaning Ash and Gladion would not be together until the end of the game. 

The bad news was he would be rooming with Gladion. Meaning during the entire stay, Gou would have to put up with Gladion. He immediately chose the upper bunk just so that he didn't have to deal with the blond teen. 

There was still a problem though. They had to take turn to enter the player's dorm since they were only given one pass. 

"I hope you're not going to hog it all. Just because you are his partner doesn't mean you have all the right to have the pass all the time", Gou said pointedly. 

"Huh, do you think I would be unfair to you? I am not that petty", the other replied and took out a paper.

"What are you doing?" Gou asked as he watched Gladion making a table with two columns. One for the time and the other was for the name. 

"I'm making a time slot here. Just write here when you need to use it and we take it from each other". 

"And if I can't reach you?" 

"We exchanged ids. Use the chat. I'll make sure to reply". 

\-------

Ash spent most of the time meeting them in the cafeteria and they immediately toured the area to see if there was any pokemon that Gou was still looking for. They ended up with an Applin in which he found it in disguise among the apple that they bought and he was ecstatic. 

When Gou was battling a wooloo, one that seemed to be a stray, which was rare in the area since wooloo usually would be owned by a farmer, Gladion took the chance to tell Ash that he would be coming to the player's room later that day. 

He had to get under scrutiny by Gou before he finally had the tag in his possession (who would've known that Gou was such a possessive Ash shipper). Once he was inside, he let out a sigh of relief(it was so small and barely noticeable) and leaned against the wall. 

"Do you know how hard it is to get a hold of this thing?" Gladion dangled the tag in front of Ash. 

"How difficult was it?" 

"Extremely difficult", he exaggerated. 

"Ehhhh… Why?" 

"Hmph", Gladion kept a tight lip on it. Let Ash experience it once they were together. "Anyway…" he continued, "let's go over the plan". 

"Okay. So what's the plan?" 

"Glad that you ask. You and I are going to act out the couple things but nothing too extreme". 

"Like holding hands?"

Gladion contemplated on it. "Let's keep the scenario bearable for both of us".

"Like?"

"Okay, for example, pulling your hand which is not intertwining hands but pulling yours. In the event that we arrive… let's say at a cafe, then I will suddenly pull your hand and coolly say,let's go into that cafe. And you're going to agree. Gou will try to separate us or ask for a change in location. We work with whatever we have on the plate at that time and you can try to make him realize his own feelings in this kind of situation". 

"Hold up", Ash interrupted. A particular wording Gladion used caught his interest. 

"What?" 

"Just now… What do you mean I have to make him realize his own feelings?" 

The blond teen knew it was coming and he sat on the chair facing Ash to make himself comfortable. This was going to be a long discussion.

"You", Gladion pointed at Ash, "how do you rate your cluelessness emotionally?" 

"Ten out of ten?" 

"Gou's?" 

"Maybe five?" 

"Wrong. He doubled your number. Let me tell you this and no offence. He's clever but he is… inexperienced when it comes to attraction". 

"Woah, so I'm smarter in that sense? But I thought he was getting better at understanding people and pokemon." 

"You lean towards understanding the work of the heart but for Gou, he improved when it comes to friendship but there's somehow another layer preventing him understanding his actual feeling". 

"I'm lost…" 

"In layman term, he likes you but thought that it was a fan thing". 

"He thinks of me as a superstar?"

"For now, yes", Gladion sighed when he watched Ash's face dropped into sadness. 

"But like I said, that is a layer he put on top of his actual feeling and you are going to bring it out of him". 

"But how can I do that?" 

Gladion crossed his hands looking smug. "That's where I'll come and help you. I hope that you're ready, for we are about to turn a fan into a lover".

Insert Gladion's hand flips. 

\---------

When it was turn for Gou to visit the player room, they'd hang out like usual except this time with a little backstory of how he met Gladion. When they went out for dinner, he purposely chose to sit next to the blond teen. Ash may not be the brightest but he tried his best to make things happen. At first, there was not much response from Gou but he seemed to have noticed it. 

Gladion added the fuel to the fire when he jokingly said that Gou wouldn't get anywhere with the romancing of Ash's heart if he let it all happen. Gou grudgingly grounded his teeth in his bunk and slapped the pillow over his ears to stop from listening to the taunt. 

The next morning, things went better for Gladion as Gou actually did what he wanted him to do. He actually went forth and tried to distract Ash from Gladion and playing his part, Gladion made a face like he wasn't happy with the interruption. 

Things were going well and the blond teen decided to step up his act a little more. He did a hand brushing against Ash's hand in which Ash looked at him equally shocked at the suddenness. 

It took a deadpan face from Gladion for Ash to realize that he had to play along. From the corner of his eyes, he observed the other teen fumed in anger as he pouted behind them. 

The feeling of third wheeling. Who wouldn't hate that? 

"Alright, it's kinda working. He needs a little more push", said Gladion when Gou had gone to buy his own food as he sipped on his tea elegantly. 

"If you say so", Ash scratched his cheeks. 

"We're almost there. Don't worry about it", the other reassured him and they continued to chat about something else. 

Meanwhile, Gou was looking solemn at the counter. It was clearly etched on his face that even the shop owner had given him a free dessert to cheer him up. 

His feelings could be broken down to three simple words : he was sad. It didn't help with the fact that a part of his pride felt torn when he was the one issuing the challenge to Gladion. 

"He's Ash's partner and of course they're going to coddle each other", he said to himself. Even Cinderace decided to give him some space to sort his problem out and he appreciated it. 

He was returning to his seat when he saw how perfect it was when Gladion and Ash were laughing at each other' s joke. He became gloomier and the entire time they were eating, he just poked at his food with his fork. 

When Ash asked, he easily brushed him off and the more they walked together, the more he felt like pulling out from the group. 

It happened on the Super class championship day when he put his foot down on separating from the group. He couldn't bear it. There was something hurtful about watching Ash together with someone else. 

Like the rewind of the glass flute tournament, Ash insisted that he watched the battle. Gou didn't make any promises and simply went to find pokemon. 

He caught two pokemons and it took him awhile to cool down before heading to the stadium. He read the ranking board and saw that Ash managed to get to the final battle of that season for Super class. When he entered the stadium, he couldn't even move when he saw Ash being a highlight on the screen as they told the story about the boy from Pallet Town who had travelled the world to stand at his current stage. 

When the battle started and Ash chose Lucario from his line up, he knew things would get heated straight away. 

One moment it was Lucario using Aura sphere, dodging through the air with ease. The opponent sent out a Skarmory and used Steel Wings but it didn't deter Lucario's graceful movement. A few attacks from both sides were connected and the clash was as hot as the wela volcano. 

He had seen a lot of Ash's previous battle but this time, it was different. This time, Ash was battling with a clear set of goals , to emerge victorious in this season to break another level to his final fight with Leon. 

It was magnetic. It was fiery. It was intense. 

_ Doki _ . 

In the midst of switching Lucario to Pikachu, Ash saw him and their gazes just held there. Ash smirked and reversed his cap. 

He had never seen Ash did it but it made his heart beat against his ribcage faster and faster. 

Something was about to happen. Something important. 

Then it dawned to Gou. 

"I like Ash", he muttered as he watched Pikachu sent an electroweb to Blastoise.He liked Ash and neither as friends nor as a fan. 

It was a like that he never experienced before and it hurt. 

Because there was Gladion. 

After the tournament, he went to search for both of them, mainly to congratulate Ash on his winning. When he saw them, they were talking to each other and that was when he heard it, "you're doing a good job at luring Gou into our plan. Just a little bit more".

Plan? What plan? 

Gou instinctively walked towards them; he was feeling a lot of pain that was indescribable. 

"What plan?" he asked them. 

And all hell broke loose. 


	4. Eternal Jasmine

Ash and Pikachu were back in the institute and Gladion had gone back to Alola. He won the tournament, increased his ranking. He was getting closer to his aim and yet, that was only half of what he wanted. 

Slipping through his fingers was the person he liked. Now he was alone in the dormitory room. Gou had moved his flight earlier and once he had reached the institute, left the room vacant. When he asked Professor Sakuragi, the man told him that Gou asked for a few days off since he wasn't feeling well and went back to his apartment. 

He looked at the wooden frame, sighing heavily. His mind kept playing the fight they had had outside of the stadium. 

_ "What plan?" Gou asked the two teens, inquiring darkly at them.  _

_ "Gou, I d-" Ash was cut off when Gou gripped his wrist angrily.  _

_ "You didn' think that I would be here?" he asked quietly while looking down at the ground. "What plan, Ash?"  _

_ "It was my idea. We were trying to get you to open up your feelings".  _

_ "Feelings? There's more to this isn't it?" Gou turned to Gladion, clearly waiting for his explanation.  _

_ "I am not romantically involved with Ash".  _

_ "So, you two were making fun of me. I'm disappointed", Gou shrunk his shoulder and released Ash's hand. His body quivered and he raised an arm to cover his face.  _

_ "Gou, this is not… We aren't making fun of you".  _

_ Yet, Gou turned deaf ears. He blocked it all that none of Ash's words really reached him.  _

_ "I trusted you that you won't play me like this! You're just like other people!" his voice trembled. He turned his back to them.  _

_ "If only I didn't realize it, I could've put up with your joke. But then, it's too late for that", Gou said quietly and hastened his steps as he left them.  _

_ "What the heck, Ash? Chase him".  _

_ But Ash was rooted to the ground as he watched Gou running away from them.  _

At present, it all became predominantly an inexplicable frustration. When the gig was up and everything became known out in the open, he wasn't able to do damage control and let it get to this point. 

He knew Gou was hurt but so was he. 

"He won't listen to what I have to say. Always thinking whatever he thinks as the logical reason". 

Clenching his fist, he stood up and went outside. 

"Dragonite, I choose you!"

And he was going to amend this. 

\--------

It had been several days since he abandoned the auction site. Those several days were used by Gou to think of how he can bury this attraction he had to Ash. 

Gou laid on his back on the floor and pondered when he would pick himself up again and returned to the institute. If he returned, Ash would be there and he could imagine the awkwardness they would have to face since he did carelessly admit that he had a thing going on for the other.

Not to mention how they were not on good terms with each other, given that he and Gladion was going to make a fool out of him. Whatever the plan was, it could be to make him confess. 

And then what? If the plan was for him to do that, was Ash planning to make a joke of it and walked all over his emotions?

But he knew Ash. He would never do something hurtful like that. 

Then why? 

"Huh, maybe I should think about how I can get rid of this stupid crush. He probably just wanted to know". 

It always helped for him to go through his collection and he did just that. He picked up an item at a time and admired them. His admiration that used to bring him hopes had now become something akin to longing. 

"What's the use of looking at all of these if it's just going to get depressing", he sighed.

The new addition to his collection was the flower he had cast into the resin block. It was a bit of hard work to make but upon imitating the online tutorial, he managed to preserve it as if it was just yesterday since he got it. 

It stood on a shelf in its splendour and Gou picked it up. 

A knock resounded and he allowed the person in. "Mum, do you need me for anything?" 

"It's Ash". 

Gou froze and his face paled. He reassessed the situation. He was in his room, looking at his collection and then he allowed the man whom he was lamenting on to come into the room while he was trying to figure out how to look at him without feeling awkward. 

"Isn't that the Jasmine I gave you?" 

Blood rushed to his cheeks as he thought of a way to get the other out of his room without appearing rude. 

And then, came Ash's words. "I'm sorry". 

Flabbergasted, his voice went a pitch higher. "What are you apologising for? I should be the one apologizing for… for saying mean things the other day". 

"It wasn't your fault. I put you up on something you didn't know about. If you don't want to forgive me then tell me how I can fix it". 

"No, it wasn't your fault". 

"But you are hurt and isn't that why you come back home?" 

"No… I… I was angry but then these few days had been for a different reason".

Gou turned to look at Ash."Don't get me wrong. I was angry but I figured out that I need some space to think for myself. I-I somehow caught feelings for you so I want to free myself from it". 

He was confused when Ash's mouth moved like a magikarp out of water. 

"Why are you doing that? You looked hilarious!" Gou finally let out a laugh after days of rolling in depression. 

Ash coughed to clear his throat. Having caught gaping like a blubbering idiot was embarrassing enough for him. 

"Do you… Do you mean that?" Ash asked. 

"Hm?" 

"What you said just now. Were you serious?" he asked again. He needed to hear it from Gou. 

"Yeah but don't you worry. I'll fix that and we'll be back as friends". 

"Then, I don't want you to stay as a friend". 

Gou was disheartened. Was this how they were going to be on their separate ways? 

"Is this a goodbye?" he asked softly and sadly, his shoulders slumped forward. 

"No, that's not what I mean. Do you… do you know what's the hidden meaning of Jasmine?" 

"I think Koharu would know this better", Gou smiled a little when Ash reassured him that he meant something else by it. 

"Jasmine is a perfect gift for someone I cherish. Koharu told me that".

"Thank you". 

"T-That's not all. It… It symbolizes love and affection to a special someone. She said, couples have given each other for hundreds of years…" 

"Oh. Was that why you bought me this flower?" 

Ash silently nod. 

They both felt their blood rushed to their cheeks. He had never thought that Ash had been looking at him in a different way since even before he realized his own crush. 

"There's a lot that I want to do with you but are you… Are you going to accept if I ask you out?" 

Gou grinned and he looked cute with his face red as if he was about to burst open. "You're my boyfriend, I've decided!" 

"Phew, that went smooth but hey, with me everywhere in your secret closet, should be hard for you to resist", looking smug, Ash pointed at Gou's collection. 

"Two minutes in and you already being a bully. I'll make sure to put that on a payback tab". 

"Then you better make sure to get your revenge. Anywho, why don't you walk me through your collection? I'm interested to see what you think about your favourite superstar". 

Gou suppressed the need to hit Ash. Let that be done for another day. 

\-------

"So, how does it feel to become your idol's boyfriend?" 

This kind of question made Gou regret wholeheartedly picking up the video call from Gladion. 

"Don't make me put down the phone". 

"Do you know that I'm also an admin in Ash Ketchum Fanbase website? I can always use the bulletin board to sell you out".

"You're sneaky!" 

There was still a doubt that Gou needed to clear out with Gladion. "You aren't dating him right?"

"I used the word partner, not boyfriend. You were the one who equated them together". 

"Right…. That was my fault then". 

"But I made the plan to trick you into confessing. I'm sorry for meddling". 

"Hey, it's fine. You were just helping a friend. I would do the same too". 

"I'll keep that in mind", Gladion replied, "you might be useful in the future". 

"Hey, I didn't agree to anything like that!" 

"But I'm your friend, no?" 

It was painfully difficult to admit but Gou gave him a muffled yes. 

"Look at us! We're getting along now!" 

"But you're going down in the upcoming bid", Gou looked at the clock on the laptop. Oh, Gladion was going to lose this one. He will get that Z-Ring Ash used to wear when he was in Alola. 

"We'll see about that", Gladion didn't back down. They went back to the bidding session. 

Fan will always be a fan. 


End file.
